Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Newton Distance Elite: Shoe Review

formatting. Built for their Elite racing team, this shoe is
designed as a racing flat of sorts, one that comes before the MV series but is
still in production. It has the traditional set of four lugs, lugs that are
less than subtle, and an original Newton look. That said, the shoe resembles
the Newton Distance, and while I was not a big fan of the original model, I
took to this version a little more. A bit more lightweight, a bit more
flexible, I find that this shoe has more of a natural feel on the foot than the
original Distance models. I could run more the way I wanted to and did not feel
like I was overstriding.

The Elite has a racer build, no rubber on the heel, nearly
flat heel to toe with a 2mm drop, asymmetrical lacing (the rage in shoes now).
On the road it has pop, a bit of bounce, especially in the mid-foot. There is
ample padding, but such padding prevents one from feeling the road; if you want
feel, these are not your shoes. You know what is there, but you do not have
full understanding with all of the padding and air filled compartments in the
way.

Proprioception is more difficult—one must pay attention to
their surrounds for they may not feel it. With this fact in mind, trail running
is more difficult than my traditional shoes of choice and I have often eschewed
using the model when I wanted to give them a whirl in the rotation, especially
since many of my runs are multi-surface endeavors.

In terms of speed, they are great for the steady tempo run,
the long race where you run one speed for a long time—think 10k and up. I’ve
used them for a half marathon, and while I found them clunky at times, they
raced well, had great bounce, and they did not bother my feet. Yet, when it
comes to intervals they feel too big, as if there is too much shoe there for
acceleration and speed fluctuations. Bouncing in and out of 400’s does not feel
comfortable, and is not the shoe’s strong suit.

Pros:

Lightweight
model, very little to tote around at 7.2 for the pair.

Only
a 2mm heel drop, so a little pressure is taken off the calf muscles in comparison
to a completely neutral shoe.

Decent
amount of padding for a minimalist shoe, enough to allow for heavy road running
at pace. You do not feel the shoe the next day.

Extremely
breathable, a Florida must. Shoe companies who do not recognize this fact are
really getting things wrong.

Cons:

A
general lack of flexibility. The shoe can flex when body weight force is
applied, but it is more of a rigid model than I typically prefer.

A lack of rubber on the heel. I know these shoes are made for forefoot landers,
but even when running in such a pattern, people should at the very least kiss
their heel to the ground. The heel is all foam and thus evaporates quickly from
friction. Perhaps the racer build accounts for such construction?

Insanely
long laces. Recycled materials or not, tie them tight, double knot them, tuck them in, they still get in
the way.